Develop > Presentation layer > Customize promotions
Promotions customization: WebSphere Commerce Accelerator
If the default promotion types supplied with WebSphere Commerce Accelerator do not meet the business needs, you can create custom promotion types. Business users can then use the custom promotion types in WebSphere Commerce Accelerator to create promotions for the store.
Promotion customizations generally fall into one of the following categories:
- Add a new promotion type that reuses existing default promotion elements.
- Add a new promotion type that is based on the default promotion purchase condition, but that uses customized promotion elements, such as a custom filter or adjustment.
- Introducing a new implementation of some higher level element of the promotion engine, such as an entirely new purchase condition or a new agenda builder, for example. This category is significantly more complex.
Furthermore, when customizing promotions, you are likely going to have to update both the authoring environment and the runtime environment. The authoring environment the promotions user interface in WebSphere Commerce Accelerator. In a promotions customization, you might be required to introduce new user interface elements to support the customization. So, for example, to add support for some additional target condition, you have to consider both how to handle the logic associated with the new condition, as well as updates to the user interface used by the business users to define the new target condition on a promotion-by-promotion basis.
What know before you start
To create a custom promotion type, you should be able to use WebSphere Commerce Developer and you should know the following programming languages:
- The Java programming language
- The XML programming language
You should also have the knowledge described in the following table.
Required knowledge Reference topics in the WebSphere Commerce Information Center WebSphere Commerce Accelerator promotions and the promotion types that are available by default Promotions WebSphere Commerce Accelerator user interface framework Tools framework The promotion engine architecture and how promotions are represented in XML
- Black box view of the promotion engine's architecture
- Promotion anatomy
- Example: runtime promotion XML
- Purchase condition XML definition
If you are introducing a new implementation of some higher level element of the promotion engine, such as an entirely new purchase condition or a new agenda builder, for example, we will also need an in-depth understanding of the promotion engine the customization scenario. See Promotion engine components and Customization scenarios. This type of customization is significantly more complex.
Procedures on promotion customization
When you have the required skills and knowledge, and you are ready to customize promotions, you can choose one of the following procedures:
- Overview of creating a new promotion type using existing promotion elements
Add a custom promotion type to WebSphere Commerce Accelerator by reusing elements of the default promotions to simplify the customization. This can save a lot of time compared with implementing something entirely new.
- Overview of implementing a new low-level promotion element
You can perform a more complex customization of the promotion engine by creating new promotion elements. For example, you might want to create a new adjustment element to assign a new reward type to qualifying orders.
- Overview of implementing a custom high level promotion element
You can perform a highly complex customization of the promotion engine by creating new promotion engine components. For example, you might want to create a new promotion agenda builder.